ROB RHINEHART: 'How I Stopped Eating Food'

In a blog post called "How I Stopped Eating Food," Rob Rhinehart describes how
he created a food substitute that still provides the body with
everything it needs to live healthily.

WARNING: This diet is untested and potentially
dangerous. It hasn't been studied and Rhinehart is doing his own
self-testing without a doctor's help.

At the time he wrote it, he had been subsisting on this stuff,
which he named Soylent after the 1973 sci-fi film "Soylent
Green," for 30 days. He's now gone two months without eating food
in the conventional sense.

"[W]e need vitamins and minerals. We need carbs, not bread. Amino
acids, not milk. It's still fine to eat these whenever you want,
but not everyone can afford them or has the desire to eat them."

Soylent consists of all the essential materials in our food
without any of the extra "stuff." The recipe is an interesting
read, consisting of varying measurements of carbohydrates,
sodium, chloride, zinc, and many other basic food elements. One
theory is that by going straight to the source and not having to
break down food to extract these essential ingredients, your body
saves energy and works more efficiently.

So why would anyone relegate himself to a single food source?
Rhinehart explains his own reasoning:

"Not having to worry about food is fantastic. No groceries,
dishes, deciding what to eat, no endless conversations weighing
the relative merits of gluten-free, keto, paleo, or vegan. Power
and water bills are lower. I save hours a day and hundreds of
dollars a month. I feel liberated from a crushing amount of
repetitive drudgery. Soylent might also be good for people
having trouble managing their weight. I find it very easy to lose
and gain precise amounts of weight by varying the proportions in
my drink."

How does it taste?
Rhinehart says, "It tastes very good. I haven't got tired of
the taste in six weeks. It's a very 'complete' sensation, more
sweet than anything."

The average American spends
$604 per month on food. But given that Soylent only costs
Rhinehart about $50 per month, he's very excited at the prospect
of feeding people in developing countries.

Rhinehart has been running trials with volunteers in the San
Francisco Bay area, but interest is so overwhelming that he just
announced plans to do a Kickstarter
project to get Soylent out to other people around the world
interested in trying it. Remember: Rhinehart isn't a doctor or a
nutritionist.